Please Understand Me

3. First aid dressing with compression wrap

4. Anti-biotic cream

5. 2 plastic serrated knives

6. Cheap throwaway battery drill / screwdriver

7. Plastic wrist ties

8. Quantity of rohypnol (see Doug)

9. Motorcycle helmet bag / rubber ball gag.

10. My "Mexican gardener" costume

Now that I've got my list and the sense that my plan is coming together I need to go upstairs and snuggle with my wife. If she is willing, I might even try some tender, married sex.

When I looked in the room I could hear the soft, very low, woman snores coming from her side of the bed. Yeah, maybe I was a little disappointed, but the fact that she could be mentally calm enough to drift into sleep without the security of my arms is progress. There will be plenty of time to renew our "normal" sex life when Victor and company are dealt with. I crawled into bed slowly, so as not to interrupt the healing sleep that Karen needed.

I woke up with a panic when I realized that I was alone in bed. My God, was last night just a dream, and Karen is still gone or dead? I came bolt upright in the bed and then I heard it: Karen's sweet voice humming and singing while she was making our breakfast. A tsunami of relief washed over me. My wife is home. I did not want to go too deep in that thought because I also realized we weren't fully out of this tragic situation yet. Karen has a lot of healing to do and I will have to deal with Victor and company.

I put on my robe and went downstairs to give my cherished wife a huge hug and kiss. She kissed me back and laughed with her special tinkling laugh and asked how I slept.

She said, "Along with your amazing gift of understanding you gave me piece of mind enough to have a full night's sleep free of anxiety and dread. It has been six month since I have slept like that, my darling.

Over a great breakfast of biscuits and gravy with grits, I outlined what I wanted her to do while I was out of the house. I made sure she had Doug and Brian's personal cell numbers and the Glock was loaded with a round in the chamber so she wouldn't have to rack the slide to shoot. I told her I would be calling the house every hour on the half hour to make sure she was safe and OK. Neither of us would feel safe until Victor was dealt with properly.

I said my goodbyes and felt good about Karen's safety while I was gone.

First thing was a call to Doug.

"Doug - I'm leaving Karen at home by herself today. I gave her your private cell in case McDonald makes a stupid move and tries to bust in the door. I've screwed a 2 x 4 across the front door inside and there are double dead bolts on the rear metal door. Make sure your guys know they have come in the back door. Karen has a Glock .40 cal. and knows how to use it."

"Don't worry Jake, Karen will be safe while you're out of the house. I guarantee. Anything else you need?"

I tried to be nonchalant when I asked him "Well, since you offered, there is one more thing. Where can I get some roofies?"

"Christ on a bicycle Jake! What the hell do you want with roofies? No! Don't tell me. I don't even want to know. Write this down. Take I-264 west across the river to Portsmouth, get off the Interstate at Washington. Go north to London St. look a block either way on London for a young black named Tyrone or street name of "Cool Jay." Tell him I sent you and what you want. He is a low grade drug dealer and one of my snitches. Tell him not to charge you over the going rate or I will discuss his evil ways the next time I have to haul his sorry ass in."

"Thanks, Doug. I owe you one."

"No you don't Jake. You owe me about 50. But, that's OK, I'll collect someday." He hung up and I realized I could find a hardware store in Portsmouth for all the other stuff I need. Or better yet. I would buy one or two items in more than one hardware store. Lessen the chances of tracing the stuff back to me.

I looked at my watch, ten to nine. Sean might be in his office by now. I had his number in my directory and called him.

He answered on the first ring "Dr. Erikson What can I do for you?

"Sean, its Jake. Do you have time to talk?"

"Sure Jake what'cha need?"

"For starters, a chunk of your time and then your professional opinion on my wife's sanity."

"Sounds serious, Jake can you come by my office right after lunch today?"

I had plenty of time to drive to Portsmouth and find Cool Jay. The roofie buy went off without a hitch. Cool Jay was a cool guy, he didn't bat an eyelash over my request and the price was more than reasonable. I probably got the law enforcement discount. I had time to buy my list items distributed among three hardware stores and Walmart. I crossed back over the river to Norfolk and drove straight to ODU on Granby. Sean's office was in a different building than my office that I shared with six other adjuncts.

I knocked on his door a few minutes after one. "Come in Jake" he said loudly through the solid door. I opened the door into a comfortably furnished office about four times larger than the one I shared with six others adjunct professors. Neither I, nor my fellow adjuncts had a problem with that because Sean is a world renowned clinical psychologist who has published over a dozen books and journal articles dealing with MPD - Multiple Personality Disorder or the newer name listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the DSM-IV-TR, the psychologist's Bible. I was getting the best possible expert to analyze Karen's problem, and it wouldn't cost me a dime. Sean's son was in my outfit and without my showboating, it is just a fact that young Erikson would not have made it home from Iraq alive without me. Naturally, Sean feels a bit of obligation to me and I will exploit that to save my precious wife.

I plunged right in and told Sean exactly what had happened with Karen, from the first night that Victor drugged her in the restaurant, to her returning to my arms two days ago. I handed him the CD with her full confession of what happened. We listened together with no talking. I hadn't had time to listen to it and, in the listening, it reinforced Karen as a blameless victim, not a cheating wife.

When the audio file ended. Sean looked very solemn. "Jake, I hope you realize nothing your wife has done with Victor the last six months was done with her free will. You have a big job, as do I, to work through the difficult and lengthy process to restore Karen to full mental health. Jake, I am going to clear my calendar and turn my classes over to my grad assistant for the next 48 hours. Beginning at eight o'clock tomorrow morning I'll start a deep psychological analysis on Karen, including hypnosis, to find out how Victor and company were able to pull her into their sexual abusive regimen. We'll find out how they destroyed her free will and created a person who could experience depraved sexual practices and have her natural sense of self and decency removed from her new psyche. I have a theory that she unconsciously created this new persona apart and separate from the Karen you married and love. This dissociative identity was the only defense mechanism available to her and allowed her to survive with her primary, moral and faithful, persona intact. She walled that personality off from the loving wife that you have known for fifteen years. The subservient and deviant sexual person functioned like a totally different woman from Karen Franklin. Apparently, that has been a successful process for six months and is still working. I must caution you though, if she falls under the diabolical control of Victor for any extended time it could diminish her ability to shift back to her primary personality. You must keep her away from him by any means necessary!

Have her here tomorrow at eight and come back to pick her up at five o'clock. Do the same Wednesday. I should have sufficient information to develop a treatment plan by Wednesday afternoon. I have some legal papers that you and Karen must sign. Releases that I will need to legally do the record checks that are necessary to unravel this mystery. I'll have them ready for both of your signatures in the morning.

You have done everything right so far, Jake. You have given Karen her life and a bit of self-esteem back, that was at rock bottom Saturday when Victor brought her home. In my opinion, your wife is actually a very strong person. If a lesser or weaker person had been subjected to what Karen has experienced, it is very probable they would not have survived without permanent mental damage or would have committed suicide."

Sean's words struck me like a knife in the heart. He reinforced my resolve to bring Victor and his evil companions to justice. I don't mean the interminable court days and sleazy lawyers doing their best to get these animals off Scott-free kind of justice. Think about the first O.J. trial and that public miscarriage of justice. No way. I will save the state the expense of an 18 month trial and the cost of incarceration, in the unlikely case they were found guilty. A few years in a County Club institution is not in Victor's future. As easy it would be, I have decided not to kill him. My goal is that when I am finished with him, he will wish I did kill him and he will have no choice but to kill himself. I want him to know that he sealed his fate that first night he put a roofie in Karen's drink. He will feel more pain than my precious wife did when he whipped her poor back to a bloody pulp. I will not proceed with a burning hatred for this piece of garbage, but will act as a cold, competent instrument of righteous retribution for the outrage he put her through for the last six months. Retribution is not the same as revenge.

Chapter 5

I arrived home and came in the back door. I had called ahead so that I would not be met by a frightened Karen holding an automatic pistol pointed at my head. My homecoming was much better than that. Karen grabbed me and smothered my face in kisses. There were tiny tears leaking from her big blue eyes. She pulled back and looked me straight on and said "Oh, my darling, I am so happy you are home. I didn't leave the house, and Victor didn't come around. I saw the police black and white cruise past the house every 30 minutes like clockwork. That may be why he didn't show his slimy face. He was scared! Jake, I'm so glad I am not facing him alone any more. I have you and the entire Norfolk police department on my side. I'm not scared to death anymore. Your hourly phone calls really helped too. I have every confidence you will find out why Victor has this hold on me and you will break it and I don't have to do those things anymore, those horrible things that Victor made me do."

"Karen, your unqualified confidence is me is good for my ego, but it is not realistic. You need professional help and I have the best person in the field who has agreed to help us. Let's start acting like normal people - BV. How would you like to go out for dinner tonight?"

She actually did a little dance and, with enthusiasm, said "Oh Jake, you read my mind! Can we go to Outback?"

"Well, Sweetie. I was thinking some place a little more elegant, but if you want Outback, I'm good with that. Why the Outback?"

She answered me in her little girl voice, "I weighed myself and I've lost six pounds from my ideal weight so, I want a Bloomin' Onion!" I chuckled to myself at that statement. Karen would never have eaten that delicious, calorie rich, fried, cholesterol packed hunk of indulgence in her previous life.

"OK doll, you got it, go get dressed and we leave in one hour."

We went to the Outback and Karen had her Bloomin' Onion, half of my steak, and a big gooey dessert. On the way home she thanked me and took a little nap in the car before we pulled into the garage and lowered the door. When we went to bed my rod was so hard a cat couldn't scratch it. I was under the covers and facing the wall when Karen slipped under the covers and spooned me. She whispered in my ear, "Darling, I really want you to make love to me, but I'm afraid. I don't want to trigger my other self and I'm truly worried how she would behave."

What she said rocked me back. This was the first time she referred to herself in the third person. I must tell Sean about that. The bad thing is I agreed with her. I would not want my sweet, loving wife to start demanding that I tie her and whip her so she could get sexual gratification. Mercifully, just that thought caused my erection to wilt like four day-old celery stalk and I was able to slip into a troubled sleep.

Karen and I were at Sean's office ten minutes before eight. His door was open and we walked in. Good morning greetings and introductions were made and out of the way. I was trying to figure out a way to tell Sean about the third person thing where in normal conversation Karen referred to a "she". Fortunately, Karen solved my problem by asking for the restroom. When she left, I told Sean about our bedroom conversation. He said "I'm not at all surprised. In fact, I would be surprised if she didn't do that. It is very likely, as the dominant, albeit barely, personality your Karen is most likely very much aware of the "Bad Karen," but not the other way around. The bad Karen, properly referred to as "Criterion B", may be completely unaware of the "Good Karen, or "Criterion A".

Leave Karen with me Jake. Come back at five o'clock. I need to tell you now that I will put a post-hypnotic condition in her memory so she will not remember anything about today's session. When you pick her up, do not ask her any questions, it would just confuse her. I'm doing that as a good psychological practice so she does not mull over today's work between sessions and become upset. I will restore her memory when you drop her off tomorrow morning, same time. See you at five and don't worry. I view this as an unremarkable textbook case of multiple personality disorder co-morbid with an extreme example of inferiority complex.

I stayed until Karen returned from the bathroom. I gave her a tight hug and real kiss. I told her she was in good hands and that I would be back at five.

I had nine hours to set the stage for Victor boy to have the very worst day of his life.

Just west of highway 168, and straddling the VA-North Carolina border, was the former Northwest Naval Security Group Activity. A victim of our current CinC's program to reduce our military to a level not seen since prior to WWII, the SecGru station was closed and padlocked over five years ago. Adjacent to the actual military activity was a campground and a number of small cabins that used to be rented by members of the military and their dependents. The distance from my house to the station is a bit over 23 miles as the crow flies. By road it is about 30 miles or around 45 minutes driving time.

I had put all the things I needed on my list in the trunk with a large set of bolt cutters. One item that was not on the list that I had already put in the car last night because I didn't want to forget it. That was the eight foot bull whip I bought several years ago on our vacation trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. When I bought it, Karen playfully chided me when she asked "Hey vaquero, are you going to use that wicked looking whip to herd your cattle?" I think she would approve of what I am going to use it for now. I also will stop at a random hardware store for four L brackets and screws to secure a picnic bench to the wooden floor of the cabin. I wouldn't want Victor to somehow scoot the table over to the small table in the corner. No that would never do, for on that table will be a six pack of bottled water, and sufficient dressings and anti-biotic cream to keep Victor from bleeding to death.

Am I getting soft? Shouldn't Victor pay the ultimate price for his depraved abuse of my wife? The simple answer is death is too good for this animal. My way will have him regretting his actions for the many bad years waiting for him in the future.

I arrived at the abandoned SecGruSta about 11:30. I popped the chain on the chain-link gate with the bolt cutters and drove to where the cabins were still standing. I chose one toward the back that still had all the windows intact. I was surprised to see the door closed but not locked. I made sure I had my heavy latex gloves, paper booties for my shoes, and a hairnet on. I did not want to leave any micro evidence that I had ever been in this cabin. In a bit of good luck, someone had already dragged a heavy well-made wooden picnic table inside and positioned it in the center of the one-room cabin. I looked around and did not see a small table that was a standard even in these sparsely furnished cabins. It took 20 minutes to look in the other cabins until I found a table to my liking. I positioned it in a corner where Victor could see the bottles of water. I'll bet the coward won't last long without water. I put the dressings on the table with the bottled water.

I quickly secured the legs of the picnic table with the L brackets. The next thing I did was lay on my stomach with my wrists held over my head and my legs placed as if they were secured in a way that would prevent me from turning over. I want that bastard where he couldn't squirm away from the bull whip's lash. When I was satisfied with the manner I was going put Victor on the table first, I then laid on my back on the tabletop, which would have been excruciating if my back was in the condition that Victor's is going to be in. My legs were bent at the knees and spread as much as possible in a position as if they were tied to the bench part of the table. I put my wrists together and made sure I could tie the rope to the bracing part of the picnic bench. I chuckled when I had the thought: This is not going to be a picnic for ole Victor boy.

With a magic marker, I drew a six inch line perpendicular to the table at the point my penis and scrotum joined my body. I laid the six inch steel reinforcing strap on that line and marked where the four holes were located. I drilled the pilot holes into the table top. I put one screw in its pilot hole and, with the special security bit, I screwed the strap to the table with about ¾ of an inch from being snug to the table. I put the other three screws in the pilot holes and screwed them all the way to the point the strap was snug to the wooden table top, Yeah, that'll work. I will draw the strap very tight to the point the blood is totally cut off to Victor's dick and balls. If he waits too long to use the plastic knife to cut himself loose, his junk will become necrotic - starting to rot. The end result will be the same if he cuts himself loose on the first or the third day. By the fourth day he will be mad with thirst, and if he drops or breaks the plastic knife, he will chew himself loose, likely breaking or dislocating his spine in the effort.

One more look around to make sure nothing was forgotten. I can get to the ODU campus on Granby in plenty of time to pick up Karen.

When I arrived at Sean's office 15 minutes to 5, Karen and Sean were sitting in comfortable chairs and chatting away like old friends. Sean looked up and, with a smile, said "Jake you are just in time to take your lovely bride home and then out for a good meal in an expensive restaurant."

I said, "I would love to do that Doc, but her taste leans to the Outback."

With a big grin Karen spoke happily "Oh Jake, you can take me anywhere and I will love it as long as were together."

"How about since we are so close to the Navy Base we go to the O'Club on Admiral's Row? They have the best steaks in town."

"Jake, you've never taken me to the Officer's Club in the 15 years we've lived here. I would love to go. Do they have a dance floor?"